exactly how long will my 29 gallon tank take to cycle? :/ it's been a month since i started it up.
i'm pumping it with Seachem's Stability daily. i assume there's enough surface area for bacteria growth. i upgraded the filter to a penguin biowheel 350 from a 200. i have a 170gph powerhead with a really large sponge filter. the aquarium is moderately planted. i also placed 3 medium sized pieces of mopani driftwood that's been releasing tannins into the water. ****, i hope they're tannins, cause the water has started to take a brownish-orange shade - and yes, i did wash, boil, and repeat the **** out of them.
the ammonia is a running problem. i have to treat the water with Amquel+ everday. i run through a bottle every two weeks or so. the seachem ammonia alert device shows the NH3 between 0-0.05ppm. considering the pH registered around 6, practically all of the ammonia was non-toxic NH4; however, with the increasing summer temperatures increasing the water temp to around 86F and the increasing pH the total ammonia will register more NH3.
nitrites were usually pretty low, but recently they shot up to 2ppm. i do daily water changes, and the local water supply is clean of nitrites, and shows about a 0.25ppm ammonia concentration.
since the Seachem ammonia indicator doesn't show high levels of ammonia, i guess Amquel+ is doing its job of neutrilizing the stuff. unfortunately, it's a lot less effective against nitrites. it takes about 20-30 mins to neutrize the nitrites, but give it a few hours and the effects wear away, which means i'm left with the same high concentrations of nitrites.
what's going on in this tank? what could cause these water conditions. i feed the fish only a little in the morning and then in the evening. there isn't anything decomposing in the water. there was some decomposing plants, but i removed those.
some questions:
1. as for knowing the tank has cycled, from previous tanks, i remember that brownish sludge that formed on the filter media. is this the bacteria colony, or is the colony some invisible thing?
2. can someone recommend some other really effective biological filter primer? 'cause this Seachem stuff doesn't seem to work.
3. is it okay to mix different biological filter bacteria strains? i have some API stuff that's sitting this one out since i'm using the Seachem stuff.
4. when i can swap over from Amquel+ to Seachem's Prime? the Amquel+ isn't as concentrated, and as a result, not as cost effective. i read you can't use them at the same time, so how much time must elapse before i can do the swap?
i'm pumping it with Seachem's Stability daily. i assume there's enough surface area for bacteria growth. i upgraded the filter to a penguin biowheel 350 from a 200. i have a 170gph powerhead with a really large sponge filter. the aquarium is moderately planted. i also placed 3 medium sized pieces of mopani driftwood that's been releasing tannins into the water. ****, i hope they're tannins, cause the water has started to take a brownish-orange shade - and yes, i did wash, boil, and repeat the **** out of them.
the ammonia is a running problem. i have to treat the water with Amquel+ everday. i run through a bottle every two weeks or so. the seachem ammonia alert device shows the NH3 between 0-0.05ppm. considering the pH registered around 6, practically all of the ammonia was non-toxic NH4; however, with the increasing summer temperatures increasing the water temp to around 86F and the increasing pH the total ammonia will register more NH3.
nitrites were usually pretty low, but recently they shot up to 2ppm. i do daily water changes, and the local water supply is clean of nitrites, and shows about a 0.25ppm ammonia concentration.
since the Seachem ammonia indicator doesn't show high levels of ammonia, i guess Amquel+ is doing its job of neutrilizing the stuff. unfortunately, it's a lot less effective against nitrites. it takes about 20-30 mins to neutrize the nitrites, but give it a few hours and the effects wear away, which means i'm left with the same high concentrations of nitrites.
what's going on in this tank? what could cause these water conditions. i feed the fish only a little in the morning and then in the evening. there isn't anything decomposing in the water. there was some decomposing plants, but i removed those.
some questions:
1. as for knowing the tank has cycled, from previous tanks, i remember that brownish sludge that formed on the filter media. is this the bacteria colony, or is the colony some invisible thing?
2. can someone recommend some other really effective biological filter primer? 'cause this Seachem stuff doesn't seem to work.
3. is it okay to mix different biological filter bacteria strains? i have some API stuff that's sitting this one out since i'm using the Seachem stuff.
4. when i can swap over from Amquel+ to Seachem's Prime? the Amquel+ isn't as concentrated, and as a result, not as cost effective. i read you can't use them at the same time, so how much time must elapse before i can do the swap?
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